Lord Darnley was the second husband of Mary Queen of Scots and her cousin-german. The Queen was at first very fond of him, but he contrived to alienate her affection by his insolence and profligacy, and especially by his share in the murder of her Italian secretary, Rizzio. While convalescing from an attack of small-pox he was removed to a solitary house near Edinburgh, which was blown up with gunpowder by the Earl of Bothwell, on Feb. 9, apparently with the Queens knowledge and consent.